LYS shopping spree!

What a great weekend!  It started out like this...

     The doorbell rang.  This brings an automatic response in our household of children running around screaming out, "Who is it?  Who is it?" which in turn, gets the dog all excited and follows suit.  So our mail lady is greeted by barking, screaming, giggling, and jumping all in the background.  I shoo them all away for a minute, "Go read a book together on the couch while I'm at the door".  This seems to work, for a brief minute.  

     The mail lady says, "Wow, this is a pretty big package, I wonder what it is this time?" to which I reply, "it must be my package from the knitter's scavenger hunt I was telling you about.  That's the only thing I'm expecting in the mail right now."  We cross paths regularly, so I got to tell her all about the cool swaps I've discovered while getting back into blogging, like the Defeat the Winter Doldrums and the Scavenger Hunt Swap.  She loved hearing all about the great dishcloths I made for Alaina, the fun I had while searching for my items to send JoAnn in the Scavenger Hunt, and the wonderful dream package I got in the mail last week from Brenda W. in the dishcloth exchange.  

     The package that the mail lady had was oddly shaped;  a rectangular cardboard box that was long enough for an umbrella to comfortably fit inside.  The label was on the other side, so I couldn't see who it was from. 

    "You'll need to sign here, for the package.  It cleared customs, and there are no fees or duty to pay."

     I put the package inside the front hallway, just behind me as I signed the form to accept delivery.  She could tell I was pretty curious myself... what might be in there?  I gave her the pen and clip board back, and smiled.

    "I look forward to hearing all about next time I do my rounds.  Have a nice day!", then she was on her way.  We have the friendliest mail lady!  I waved good-bye and closed the door.

     I turned around to bring the package to the dining table to open - it was gone!!!  Who did this?  The evidence was so obvious;  the pitter-pattering of little elephants upstairs!  My children do not tip-toe lightly.  This was now a rescue mission!  Operation Find-My-Package!

Before I even got to the top of the stairs, I could hear the box being opened;  I can tell that my oldest 11 year old son is in cahoots with the younger ones, or they never could have opened it that fast!  Then I hear packing material being scattered about, and loud laughter.  I arrive at the crime scene, only to find the little yarn thieves are taking evasive action!  I am being bombarded by those little foam packaging peanuts.  They're coming from everywhere!  Quickly, the suspects (I can't call them criminals, just yet) fall back and retreat to various hidden locations within the house.  

     All I am left with is an empty box, and a note.  At least I can enjoy reading it and find out who my secret pal is, while I wait for the surrender of those sneaky little yarn theives.  I still have the upper hand - I'm in charge of snacks in this house!  No package?  No banana muffins for them!  I open the envelope carefully....

Then I woke up.

There was no package in mail for me yet, but I was glad to have an amusing dream to laugh about in the meantime.  It was one of those dreams that seem so real, you don't realize till you wake up that you were dreaming.  Not too often do I get those anymore, I can usually tell that I'm still asleep.

On to other news (no more fiction, I promise):

A friend emailed me to say there was a sale on at our local yarn store.  Apparently, Cloth & Clay is closing and has everything 50% off!  I was saddened to hear that just after I discover a LYS it has to close!  ARRRG!  But on the bright side, it's a great sale!  I did find out that they have another store not too far out of town that will be staying open.  I convinced my husband to let me spend some money there due to the sale.  We had already agreed I would not purchase any more yarn this month, so don't even ask what I had to do to convince him.... 

I got a few hanks of wool to felt with, some organic cotton for my baby nephew's bath mitt that I'll be knitting, and a few balls of sock yarn to try out.  I tried to get some Malabrigo, but it was sold out.  So the brands I did manage to get (you can tell me if these were wise purchases or not, I'm unfamiliar with any of them being a beginner knitter) were:  

Regia - sock yarn made in Brasil

Lana Grossa's Mega Boots Stretch Softcolor - 3 different balls/colors

ARAN by Briggs & Little (made in New Brunswick, Canada) 2 hanks of Natural White

Regal by Briggs & Little - 2 hanks of Horizon Blue, and 2 hanks of Midnight blue

Cash Iroha by Noro (made in Japan, and feels so heavenly!) 2 hanks each of brown, and red

Cl0ud Cotton, (made in Peru for Estelle) 1 hank, very soft, gentle green color 

I also let the kids pick out this cute little frog sitting on the cotton hank, shown in the photo above.  My  4 year old son has a fetish for frogs, and green creatures like lizards, grasshoppers, and dragons.

So as you can see, I've kept myself busy this past weekend.  I'm so happy with all the yarn I've picked up.  I usually purchase yarn when I have a project in mind, but I couldn't resist.  You should have seen the quirky smile on my face all day.  Now to figure out what to do with it...